My experience spans the Office of the Secretary of Defense, acquisition and sustainment organizations within OUSD(A&S) and the former OUSD(AT&L), including Enterprise Information within Acquisition Resources and Analysis, as well as the OUSD Comptroller, Department of the Navy, Army Program Executive Offices, and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology. Across these organizations, I have supported modernization priorities, competing funding needs, and complex program portfolios—from multiyear IT planning to resource strategy for multibillion-dollar defense investments.

I have held roles with Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, Quantech, LMI, and The Purdy Group. At Booz Allen Hamilton, I supported Navy N1 resource planning, the Career Training Continuum, and CIO/N1 enterprise IT transformation. At CACI, I led Army PPBES and acquisition financial management for PEO Combat Support & Combat Service Support and PM Expeditionary Energy & Sustainment Systems, advising ACAT I–III program managers on tactical power and sustainment portfolios. At VA, I served as planning and programming lead for a 21-program IT portfolio encompassing more than $200 million annually and developed its multiyear resource plan. Earlier work with Quantech and The Purdy Group included enterprise acquisition analysis, OSD Comptroller support, coordination with OMB and CAPE, and Department-level portfolio reviews. At The Purdy Group, I identified contract optimization opportunities and contributed to more than $400 million in acquisition and resource efficiencies.

I help leaders determine what to fund, where to accept risk, and how to translate priorities into action. By connecting budgets with program performance, I make resource constraints, delivery tradeoffs, and critical dependencies explicit. From acquisition planning through execution reviews, I develop decision packages that bring financial and operational evidence together with clear options and concrete next steps.

Resource planning and financial management. My expertise spans Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) and Army PPBES, including POM, BES, and FYDP development; budget formulation and execution; funds control; spend plans; and obligation and expenditure phasing. I also work across congressional budget justification, unfunded requirements, issue papers, reclamas, continuing-resolution impacts, and reprogramming actions.

Acquisition and program oversight. My experience includes the Adaptive Acquisition Framework, Major Capability and Middle Tier acquisition pathways, program baselines, milestone reviews, life-cycle cost estimates, affordability analysis, Earned Value Management, and cost, schedule, and performance tradeoffs.

Analytics and decision support. I use Power BI, advanced Excel, Power Query, Power Pivot, Power Platform, and Power Automate to support forecasting, risk analysis, audit readiness, and executive oversight. My systems experience includes Army Vantage, AE2S, ADVANA, PBIS, PDOCS, DAMIR, DAVE, GFEBS, and GFEBS-SA.

I build the processes and tools that help teams put decisions into practice. At VA, I developed planning, resource, and program-evaluation architecture linking investments, budget lines, execution, risk, and service outcomes, while standardizing portfolio governance and cost transparency. For Navy clients, I developed executive dashboards, KPIs, risk registers, corrective-action trackers, SOPs, decision logs, and program-review packages. I also designed and implemented an AI-enabled unfunded-requirements and executive-reporting capability adopted by the program office. It reduced repetitive manual work, improved transparency across resource sponsors and PEO stakeholders, and accelerated resourcing decisions while closing a critical reporting gap.

Working with senior executives, program managers, and cross-functional teams has shaped my approach: understand the mission, ask thoughtful questions, and make the evidence useful. I have led and trained teams, built repeatable processes, and helped clients navigate changes in planning and portfolio management. I bring a strategic perspective without losing sight of the details—and design solutions for both the leaders making decisions and the teams carrying them out.

My advisory work has supported Senior Executive Service leaders, Flag Officers, Program Executive Officers, and Program Managers, bringing together requirements, acquisition, financial management, contracting, logistics, engineering, and sustainment perspectives. I have received four Best Overall Employee Awards and four Performance & Recognition Excellence Awards across Army acquisition and resource-management operations, along with senior executive recognition for clearer, timelier, and more defensible decisions in OUSD governance forums.

I am developing Defense Decision Intelligence to connect program, financial, acquisition, risk, and performance information into decision-ready insight. My goal is to help leaders see how investments support capability outcomes, recognize emerging risks, and understand the evidence behind their choices. I am exploring AI and automation as practical tools for this work, with traceability, human judgment, and accountability at the center.

My independent work includes a 2026 strategy memorandum on accountable military AI governance and portfolio oversight, proposed controls connecting responsible AI principles with acquisition and resource decisions, and a 90-day portfolio pilot concept. Through MayraUgaz.com, I share executive case studies, original professional writing, and perspectives on defense strategy, PPBE, acquisition, modernization, responsible AI, and decision intelligence for federal and commercial audiences.

My focus is on defensible investments, effective oversight, and workable solutions. I bring financial discipline, acquisition experience, and a practical understanding of execution to help leaders navigate complex resource decisions—and turn strategy into action.